What women want?

Disclaimer: This is not a philosophical post. Am not a philosopher either.

This is supposed to be one of those "never figured out" philosophical questions. However, i have my doubts - not if this has been answered already, but if this question merits any special attention. I am sure if the same question has been posed about men, no one would have been able to answer that either.

Anyways, this post is not an attempt to answer any of these... Its not even about understanding the merits and demerits of these ponderings.

Last week was a very important one in the Indian politics - not just because of the budget - but because of yet another significant political move - the cabinet nod for the women's reservation bill.

Many political observers have been cautious on reading the implications of this news and rightly so. This is a bill that was initially drafted during the times of one Mr. Deve Gowda (yes yes, the same Prime Minister who used to sleep through meetings and couldnt even gain support to become a CM in his own state now). It has been 14 years and there have been many elections and governments since. Almost every government had the political clout to muster enough support to pass the bill, only if they willed. Why should it be any different now?

Just because the cabinet gave its nod, it doesnt mean the bill gains clearance. It still has to be tabled in the parliament. While the Congress, BJP and the left have pledged support to the bill - getting more than enough numbers to pass it in the lower house and just enough in the upper house - will the Congress go ahead now? I doubt.

The Congress think tank (?) would definitely be aware of the thin majority it commands in the parliament now. The siding of its allies like RJD and DMK with the opposition on the budget walkout would have sown seeds of doubt in the minds of senior congress leaders about the vulnerability of their position. Do these leaders have the political will to see the bill through even if it threatens to shorten their stint in the cabinet / parliament? More importantly, cant these leaders make the bill a reality within their party if they so willed?

Now to the more basic questions - forget the political will - is this bill really the need of the hour? Do our women really want this reservation? Will this reservation do much good for their plight? And what exactly is their plight?

Reservation for women was one of the key discussion points (along with separate electorate for Muslims) even during the framing of Indian constitution and was stuck down by our women leaders then. One of them remarked "We have never asked for privileges. What we have asked for is social, economic and political justice and fair play and to be able to take part in responsible work in the service of the country". Another women leader emphatically noted, "ever since the start of Women's Movement in the country, women have been fundamentally opposed to special privileges and reservations".

Is this bill going to provide a fair play for them? Is this going to make the innumerable atrocities committed against women in our society a thing of the past? Subramaniya Bharathi, the famous poet / freedom fighter from Tamil Nadu, once remarked "India would have attained complete independence only when it is safe for a woman, with full ornaments, to walk alone in the middle of the night". Is this bill going to get us there? If only we could say our women are safe to roam around in the biggest of metros atleast during the day...